The Wolfpacker war room: NC State football, basketball and recruiting

It may be on a new home on the On3 network, but the the trademark War Room is still on The Wolfpacker! And as always, it’s packed with premium information surrounding NC State athletics well worth the cost of admission: a year’s subscription for just $1.

What’s the latest going on in NC State football and basketball recruiting? We have some of the scoop behind the scenes.

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This weekend, NC State is expected to host Vanderbilt offensive tackle transfer Tyler Steen on an official visit.

Steen was first mentioned by The Wolfpacker on a premium chat on Jan. 12 and then followed up with more additional information on the War Room two days later:

“We mentioned in the premium chat this week that the lone new name we have heard from the transfer portal this week is Vanderbilt starting left tackle Tyler Steen, and Friday morning we received another little bit of information to suggest that this is a player that, at a minimum, NC State is giving a long look.

“Steen had a solid PFF grade this past season at 66.0, above the 64.0 that is considered average. He was more solid in run blocking (68.7) than pass pro (59.9). Keep in mind that Steen played in the SEC, including facing the vaunted national champion Georgia defense.

“He had a 64.0 or better game grade from PFF in five of the eight SEC games that he played (including 70.1 against Mississippi State and 74.4 vs. Missouri), and also went above 64.0 in a showdown with Stanford. He understandably did not grade out well against Georgia.

“NC State’s director of scouting Corey Phillips came to Raleigh last April after five years working in the recruiting office of Vanderbilt, which may be the connection for NC State with Steen.”

Since then, Phillips has left for LSU (replaced this week by former NC State quarterback Jatavis Sanders). Thus, LSU is one of four schools that we have heard are at the forefront of Steen’s recruitment, with a decision potentially coming before the end of the month or early-April.

The other two are Penn State and Alabama. The latter in particular is making a heavy push on Steen and will have him in for an official visit March 25. As far as we know, Alabama and NC State are the lone two visits that are on the books for Steen.

It should be also noted that we understand Steen may have made an unofficial visit last week to Tennessee, and the Vols could be a wildcard.

The vibe surrounding the Crimson Tide’s push is strong, but that may be partly due to the brand factor and a conventional wisdom that Alabama is tough to beat on the recruiting trail.

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Speaking of Tennessee, they are one of several teams hosting big junior days this weekend. NC State, as we had previously noted on the Wolves’ Den message board, decided to hold a significant spring junior event March 25 in correlation with a spring practice.

The beneficiary of the schedule is UNC, which was able to have Tom Lemming’s annual photo shoot in Chapel Hill in conjunction with its junior day. Lemming originally planned to hold the event at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh in January, but snow forced it to be postponed, and Lemming’s schedule best fit this weekend.

Among the players NC State have offered that are expected to be headed to Chapel Hill of interest to NC State are:

On3 Consensus three-star receiver Kevin Concepcion from Chambers High in Charlotte

Offensive tackle Robert Grigsby from Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb High

On3 Consensus four-star defensive lineman Xzavier McLeod from Camden (S.C.) High

Athlete Zack Myers from Arden (N.C.) Christ School

On3 Consensus four-star tackle Sam Pendleton from Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan High

On3 Consensus three-star edge Isaiah Shirley from Boone (N.C.) Watauga High

On3 Consensus four-star tight end Javonte Vereen from Havelock (N.C.) High

On3 Consensus four-star edge Rico Walker from Hickory (N.C.) High

Sophomore tight end Jack Larsen from Charlotte Catholic

On3 Consensus four-star sophomore receiver Jonathan Paylor from Burlington (N.C.) Cummings High

Freshman offensive tackle David Sanders from Providence Day in Charlotte

From this group, one to keep a close eye in Concepcion. One insider recently told us that Concepcion probably could have been UNC’s to have if it had offered him earlier. Can the Heels make up for lost ground this weekend?

Will UNC also offer some players that NC State may have established itself as one of, if not the, leaders, like Myers, Shirley and Vereen?

We do not envision UNC suddenly becoming a prominent player in the Pendleton recruitment. There is growing chatter that we first heard Sunday at the Under Armour Next Series stop in Alpharetta, Ga., and continued this week that NC State is a stronger player with Pendleton than the national conventional wisdom that Clemson and Michigan are his top two may suggest.

Also, do not be surprised if some of these players make their way over to Raleigh this weekend.

At Tennessee, a pair of offered players from NC State are expected to be at their junior day.

On3 Consensus four-star offensive tackle Jamaal Jarrett from Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley High

Tight end Ben Marshall from Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman High

Tennessee, interestingly, is the lone school beside NC State talking to Jarrett about playing offensive tackle.

Finally, a handful of offered targets are visiting Clemson

On3 Consensus four-star offensive tackle Sullivan Absher from Belmont (N.C.) South Point High

On3 Consensus four-star receiver Chris Culliver from Maiden (N.C.) High

On3 Consensus four-star receiver Christian Hamilton from Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge High

On3 Consensus three-star tight end Reid Mikeska from Cypress (Texas) Bridgeland High

NC State is trying to play catch up with Culliver and is probably a long shot for Hamilton. Sources believe UNC, Notre Dame and Clemson may be a quiet top three for Absher, and it’s noteworthy he is going to Clemson instead of UNC this weekend.

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NC State football’s landing of West Charlotte High offensive tackle Darion Rivers is not a surprising development. The speed of which NC State moved on the recruitment of Rivers is emblematic of how strongly it felt about him after getting a chance to see him in person in late-January.

NC State may have been fortunate that Rivers was willing to move quickly and also did not proactively get his name out via visits and camps. The upside of Rivers is intriguing.

The indications that we have received is that offensive tackle is a priority in the 2023 class, and don’t be surprised if three are taken.

Currently, NC State has between 4-5 scholarship offensive tackles scheduled to return after the 2022 season, depending on if third-year redshirt freshman Patrick Matan, who was working with the tackles to start spring practice, remains there. Matan has gone back and forth between guard and tackle in his brief career so far, but tackle was what he was recruited to be.

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Rivers and quarterback Lex Thomas from Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage High could be the start of what may be a banner in-state recruiting class for NC State.

Head coach Dave Doeren has a strong core belief that loading up on in-state players is vital for his program for multiple reasons. As things stand at the beginning of March, things are trending for NC State to have double-digit number of in-state players in the class. That’s in line with Doeren’s best classes at NC State — 2014, 2018 and 2019.

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The news that NC State director of athletics Boo Corrigan reaffirmed that Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts will be returning for another season was not a surprising development.

Corrigan first made that plain during a radio appearance on the Adam Gold Show, and we have noted in two separate War Rooms that those sentiments had not changed.

There have been quite a few rumors going around about why Corrigan is keeping Keatts, but from multiple sources and interactions we have had over the past few weeks, we believe the answer is as simple as what Corrigan outlined: the AD believes that Keatts should have another year.

The injuries, NCAA investigation that was not of Keatts’ doing and a desire for continuity are all reasons Corrigan has cited publicly and privately for his reasoning.

Assuming the Pack’s season comes to an end next week in Brooklyn, it will begin what should be an interesting two to three months for the program.

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